here, hang on just a sec, let me give you some receipts here, because ya, of course a lot of fruits, veg and grains cause a lot of human suffering before they get to our kitchens, but hang on a sec
Factory farms are the sweatshops of the food industry. People of colour, undocumented workers, immigrantsĀ andĀ poor peopleĀ are the ones most harmed by animal agriculture. The most vulnerable people in society are used as workers and they are treatedĀ horrifically.Ā
38% of US slaughterhouse workers do not speak any English, and 48% do not have legal authorisation to work, they are at-will employees and extremely vulnerable to being taking advantage of/being subjected to awful working conditions and gruelling hours.
Pregnant women have been forced to stand for long hours in factory production lines without breaks, or perform heavy lifting under threat of being fired, women with heavy periods have been refused toilet breaks so that they bled on their clothes on the production lines.
Human Rights Watch describe slaughterhouse work as a āsystematic human rights violationā. Workers areĀ twice as likely to be injured at work than the average person, and the rate of illnesses alone was more than ten times the national average, most will suffer from respiratory diseaseĀ at some point, workers suffer horrendous repetitive strain injury, hearing damage at aĀ rate of 30 times the national average, and there are approximately 37 deaths per 100,000 employed.
Because the production line is so fast and intense, workers are denied breaks and it is therefore not uncommon for them to urinate and defecate in their own clothes to prevent the line slowing, they work in conditions that leaves them covered in animal excrement and maggots daily, and are so dispensable that they are often immediately fired if they complain.
People working in slaughterhouses are more likely to have problems with alcohol abuse and mental health issues such as PTSD due to working under extremely stressful conditions.Ā
In the UK, āfarmers are twice as likely to contemplate suicide compared to the general publicā and in the US it is said to be as high as four times as likely.
People working in slaughterhouses are at a far higher chance of being perpetrators of domestic violence due to trauma, desensitisation and the normalisation of violence.
Workers are often unable to unionise to fight for better conditions to a point where controversial tactics are used to stop unions forming. For example at Smithfield foods in North Carolina, under Carolina law they were able to create an internal security force with police like powers - they could arrest union supporters and patrol the factory with guns to keep workers in line.Ā Ā
People working in tanneries to make leather from the skin of animals that have been killed are exposed to numerous dangerous chemicals that cause skin diseases, respiratory illnesses, and the machinery is so dangerous it can result in amputations.
In India (and Bangladesh) people have died due to the exposure to these chemicals. These chemicals can also leach into the water supply and affect the air and soil quality, which in turn causes illnesses and diseases in nearby populations. There is an aspect of environmental racism where low-income minority communities are burdened with greater levels of pollution.
Aaaaand whilst weāre on the topic of the human victims of animal agribusiness, countlessĀ people go hungry in countries growing grain to become animal feed,Ā you could feed hundreds of people with what it takes to raise 200kg of boneless beef,Ā 85% of soy cropĀ is used to raise animals for food despite all the starving humans,Ā 800 million people could be fed with the food the US alone force feeds livestock, would you like me to go on?
nahh you wanna talk grapes! but wait, wait, hang on a sec, is it ONLY vegetarians and vegans that eat fruit and veg? do you meat eatersā¦. ONLY eat MEAT? are you exempt from contributing to human suffering because you ALSO contribute to animal suffering? do meat eaters not eat grapes?! jesus kerrrristĀ
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